When the sun finally peeked over the horizon, it was an exhausted group that greeted it. The beasts had attacked again and again all throughout the night, the flimsy barricades not enough to hide the presence of so many exposed people. Each time a new pack arrived, however, it was repelled by Lilia and the skeletons.

The smell of roasting meat filled the air, a mutated boar slowly cooking above a crude firepit. Beside it sat buckets of clear river water, Bo having led a group of skeletons to collect it an hour before.

Reud paced around the small area fenced in by the barricades, the thought of resettling Srinaber growing more and more exciting the longer he thought on it. To do that, they would need tools and building materials, and Littlestream would contain both.

Assuming anything survived the flames.

His pacing brought him over to where Lilia sat curled up against a wall, hugging her sheathed sword against her body. She'd fought all night long, meeting each attack with equal ferocity. Which meant she was now totally exhausted.

Her eyes were closed and her hair had fallen over her face, moving slightly as she breathed. Reud knelt down and gently stroked her head, whispering to her until she woke up.

Groggily, she looked up at him, blinking in the light.

“Reud?” She murmured, sitting up and almost dropping her sword. “I wasn’t asleep. I was just resting my eyes.”

Reud laughed. “Of course you were, my love. I just wanted to tell you I’m going to head back to Littlestream and salvage what I can.”

Lilia shook her head to clear the sleepiness from her mind. “Do you want me to come with?”

Reud pressed her back down as she tried to rise. “No, you stay here and rest. You had a busy night.”

Lilia nodded and relaxed back against the wall again. “Okay, be safe. Don’t get captured again... Now I think my eyes need a little more resting...”

Reud stroked her hair for a minute as she snuggled back into the wall, the simple act filling him with peace. If only they could stay like this, stretching out this single beautiful moment forever.

But no, he had responsibilities to attend to now.

Reluctantly, he rose. Reud picked his way back through the small compound, commanding Tel and half the skeletons to follow along, leaving the rest under Bo’s command.

The skeleton had proven himself capable of impressive independent thought so far, far more than Reud had ever expected when he'd raised him. He couldn't help feeling a little smug at that. A greater undead really seemed a cut above the traditional undead, and it was a spell he'd personally created after many long years of experimentation. Truly an accomplishment worth bragging about.

If only he had another necromancer to show it off to.

The skeletons pulled at the barricade, opening a space large enough to pass through. Just as Reud was about to step out, a gruff voice stopped him in his tracks. Turning, Reud found Grym striding towards him.

“My lord, are you heading back to Littlestream?” Grym asked.

Reud nodded. “I was going to go and see what we can salvage.”

“That were what my boys and I were plannin’ too. You mind if we tag along?”

“Be my guest.” Reud said. Turning to the other people watching them, he raised his voice a little more. “If anyone else wants to come to Littlestream, you are welcome to join us.”

A few others stepped forward, Rachel among them, their faces haggard and exhausted but filled with determination. Soon a group of over two dozen people were squeezing through the barricade, and out into the city beyond.

—

The mood of the group became more and more sombre as they got closer to the column of smoke rising into the sky. When they eventually broke out of the forest, a collective gasp came from everyone.

Littlestream was devastated.

The walls that used to protect the village had been reduced to charred stubs in the ground. The buildings beyond had been gutted, leaving only blackened shells still standing. Embers glowed in the ruins, fluctuating between smouldering red and a fiery orange as the wind washed through the village.

Reud and the rest of the group slowly walked through what used to be the northern gate, deathly quiet. The former villagers looked around at what remained of their home, their faces slack with disbelief.

Reud paused and waited, giving them some time to deal with what happened to the village.

Eventually, Grym broke the silence, clearing his throat. Reud glanced over at him to see the large man quickly wiping at something in his eye.

“I’m gonna head over to my workshop, see if anything survived.” Grym said, his voice raw with emotion.

Reud nodded at him, then gestured to the undead following behind. One of their number stepped forward. “Take a skeleton with you to help you search. The buildings are unstable, and there's no sense risking your life.”

The big man bowed his head in respect, then gestured for his apprentices to follow him.

The rest of the group started to split up as well, each taking a single skeleton with them, until only Reud, Tel, and Rachel were left. Reud looked over at the woman, watching her fidget with her hands whilst looking over to the village square.

“Was there something you wanted to check out?” He asked gently.

Rachel responded in a quiet voice, almost lost in the sound of the wind. “My father… He’s over there, isn’t he?”

Reud looked over to the woman. “Yes. But with the fire... Are you absolutely sure you want to see?”

“No...” Rachel responded, her voice filled with dread. “But I have to do this. For him.”

Reud was about to say something else, when Rachel clenched her hands into fists and started walking towards the village centre, whispering something under her breath, her eyes fixed determinedly forward.

Reud watched her go, feeling a hint of respect. She was handling her loss a lot better than he had handled his. When his family died, he couldn’t bring himself to even look at their faces, wanting to preserve the memories of them alive untainted by seeing them dead. As a necromancer he shouldn’t have had a problem with bodies, but still, he couldn’t handle the idea of seeing the lifeless eyes of his brothers.

The pair entered what used to be a peaceful village square. Now the ground was littered with the charred remains of bodies, broken links of mail shirts, discarded melted blades, large deep red stains, and scattered severed limbs.

A macabre testament to the violence that occurred here.

Rachel stood staring dumbly among the devastation, horror twisting her face. For a moment, Reud considered approaching her, but then decided against it. Comforting people was not really his strong point, he’d probably just end up upsetting her. Better instead to let her come to terms with what had happened on her own.

Turning, he instead walked over to the ruins of the Mayor’s house, the large building having survived better than the rest due to its heavy use of stone in its construction. The choice of building material, far more expensive than the wood that formed the majority of the rest of the houses in the village, showing the status of the man who used to live here.

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Carefully, Reud entered the building, commanding Tel to follow him inside. Immediately, he began to sweat, the heat from the still smouldering walls becoming instantly stifling. An alarming splintering sound came from below him as Reud put his weight onto the charred floorboards, still glowing in places with embers.

Stopping still, Reud strained his ears for any sign that the building was about to collapse, but thankfully it did not. Reud took another tentative step, his every sense alert for the first sign of the floor giving way.

Slowly, Reud walked through the house, peering into each room. The house’s walls were bare, the fabulous paintings and tapestries lining the walls reduced to nothing but ashes.

In one of the rooms, something curious caught Reud’s attention. A large chest was buried end-down through the floorboards, as if dropped from a height. Reud looked up to where the second storey used to be, trying to envision the old layout. The room that was above this one was likely Graham’s office. The chest probably fell from up there.

Walking closer, Reud realized what it was that had caught his attention. The chest was completely untouched by the fire, with not a single scorch mark or soot stain marring its surface. It seemed to be made of deep red mahogany wood, bound in bands of rune-inscribed bronze.

And it shimmered with mana.

Reud squatted down beside it, running his hands over its surface, trying to puzzle out the nature of the enchantment placed on this thing. He could sense multiple kinds of magic, a hybrid of kinetomancy and geomancy.

Enchanted items were fairly common, back before Lightire won the war. Any mage with an interest in learning how to infuse mana into objects could learn to enchant, and as a result the markets were flooded with artefacts for any situation one could desire. Most focused around the needs of adventurers, weapons, armour, and other utilities those who braved the dangers of dungeons and faced down chimeras would require. However, there was also a great desire for designer artefacts for those with the funds to buy them, everything from cosmetic modificators to sight enhancers, colour changers to pleasure givers. Glowing jewellery was just coming into fashion before the war, the ladies of the court walking around with rubies and emeralds that shone their colours out like beacons.

Reud ran his hand over the chest again, feeling the mana in the runes cast into the bronze bands. This chest seemed to be a simple artefact-lock, designed to keep the goods within safe and secure from prying eyes. Cheap, back in his day. Now, however? Such an item must have cost a tidy sum.

What could Graham have been hiding in something so pricey?

Wrapping his hands around one of the handles on the upper end, Reud gave the chest a tug. It barely budged. Frowning, he commanded Tel to join in. Walking up beside him, the skeleton wrapped his hands around the handle alongside Reud, and together they pulled.

Slowly, the chest began to move, little by little rising out of the ground. A groan forced itself from Reud’s mouth as he threw all his strength into shifting the chest, cursing his physical weakness. If only he'd put on some more muscle before creating the template for his everlasting body, he'd be able to lift things like this with ease.

Well, there were always things one could improve in hindsight.

With a screeching creak, the chest slipped free of the hole. The sudden shift sent Reud stumbling back, bumping into the wall behind him. Splintering cracks sounded from all around him as the entire building shuddered. Clouds of ash puffed out from the remains of the floor above, scattered about as chunks of masonry fell into the building.

Reud sprang over to the chest, grabbing one end, commanding Tel to grab the other. Together they half carried, half dragged the chest back out through the building as it started to collapse in on itself around them.

With barely a moment to spare, they burst out into the square, followed by spiralling clouds of ash. Behind them, the house completely caved in, the roof falling and taking out the remaining interior walls. To either side, the neighbouring houses began to collapse too, a chain reaction spreading around the edge of the square that threw out clouds of ash and embers to fill the air.

Blinking the dust from his eyes, waving a hand to clear the ash from the air, Reud walked back over to the chest. It was time to see what he'd risked being buried for.

On the front of it sat a lock with a spiralling keyhole, surrounded by runes. A classic magic lock, entirely unpickable by any mundane thief, only openable with the matching key. Breaking one was a complex affair for even a mage, the intricate devices often trapped against such attempts by destroying the items within.

Certainly not something he wanted to attempt unless he absolutely had to.

With a sigh, Reud stood back up. If the key was stored somewhere in the house, then finding it would be nigh on impossible. Though… Reud looked over to where Rachel was crouched. Maybe the key was on the Mayor’s body. With a chest as valuable as this, it was likely he would have kept it on him at all times.

Reud walked over to Rachel. The woman was collapsed on the ground, sobbing, her face in her hands. As he got close, Rachel looked up at him, tears streaking her face.

“I… I can’t even tell which one is him.” She sobbed.

Reud squatted down next to her and put his hand on her shoulder. “Would you like me to find him for you?”

Rachel nodded but said nothing.

Reud closed his eyes, focusing instead on his mana sense. The few of the bodies around the square light up like beacons, the residue of their souls calling to his affinity, almost begging to be used. Most of the bodies were young, less than a quarter of a century old. Two of them shone with the residue of magic, the two Seeker mages.

Those he would raise as greater undead.

Only one body had a skeleton over half a century in age. Reud walked over to the corpse and knelt next to it. It was barely recognizable as human, nothing more than a lumpy chunk of charred meat. Reud glanced over at Rachel, checking if she was still burying her face in her hands.

She was.

Quickly, Reud began to pat the corpse down. Most of the body had the crisp, charred feel of burnt meat. However, the remains of Graham’s robe must have fused into his back, likely when the fats in his skin melted. Reud groped around in it, feeling for any hint of the key.

He was in luck.

His fingers fell onto a small metal object, lodged within the fabric. Squashing his excitement, Reud pulled it out, popping it from the flesh it was lodged in. The object was a small key, and Reud quickly tucked it into his pocket.

Standing, he walked back over to Rachel.

“I found your father’s body, but I really wouldn’t suggest you look.” Reud said, his voice as gentle as he could make it.

Rachel looked up at him, her eyes red from crying. “Show me.” She said, her voice cold.

Reud looked into her eyes for a moment, looking for any hint of weakness, but finding only steely determination. Maybe she was strong enough to handle the horror, after all.

“Okay, he’s over here.” He said, waiting for Rachel to stand before he led her over.

Together they walked across the square before stopping in front of the body. Reud looked over to Rachel. The woman just stood there, her eyes fixed on the burnt remains of the corpse, her face unreadable. She made no sound, no tears streamed from her eyes.

She just stood in silence, staring.

Eventually, she broke her eyes away from the body and looked at Reud, her face furious. “The Seekers did this. I’m going to make them pay.”

“We’ll both make them pay. They’ve taken from all of us.” Reud said. “Lightire has a lot to answer for.”

Rachel looked back at the remains of her father’s corpse. “I need to take him to the sky burial.” She said softly. “He deserves that.”

With a thought, Reud called Tel over. “Tel will help you carry him. You just focus on saying the words and paying your respects.”

Rachel looked at him gratefully, tears once again welling up in her eyes. Tel scooped up the corpse and turned to Rachel expectantly. She took a shuddering breath, then turned and began to walk slowly out the village, towards the burial ground.

Reud watched them until their pair disappeared behind a row of ruined buildings. The moment they were out of sight, he rushed over to the chest, pulling the key from his pocket. Slotting it into the keyhole, he turned it, holding his breath. The chest clicked open.

Within was coins. A lot of coins.

Reud’s eyes went wider as he did a quick count. Easily a couple thousand or more crowns! What exactly was Graham doing with this much money? Rachel had given them the impression that the village had fallen on hard times, but here was enough money to pay the taxes for ten or more villages, at once! Unless…

Telac.

If Graham had seized the taxes Telac was carrying, then that would explain the wealth. Reud rocked back on his heels, thinking. The mayor had told him they couldn’t afford to pay a full adventurer's bounty for the stag, whilst hiding all this away. The man had been loaded, all this time.

The old miser.

Closing the chest again, Reud smiled. This would help Srinaber get back on its feet. They could now buy anything they couldn’t build or salvage. The future was looking brighter by the minute.

Relocking the chest and tucking the key away in his pocket, he stood, looking around the village once again. In the distance, the sounds of people picking through the remains was barely audible. They all seemed to have the more mundane salvaging under control.

This body-littered ground, however, was Reud’s domain.